


The War Years Vignettes

by Lautari



Category: Turn (TV 2014)
Genre: Childhood Friends, Childhood Sweethearts, F/M, First Love, Requited Love, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:22:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26917315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lautari/pseuds/Lautari
Summary: Vignettes centering around fourth season of TURN with Ben Tallmadge and Anna Strong as the central characters.
Relationships: Anna Strong/Benjamin Tallmadge, Caleb Brewster & Benjamin Tallmadge
Comments: 23
Kudos: 21





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> During the fourth season of TURN, Ben and Anna had a farce of relationship as a cover for Culper ring activities. I myself thought the writers were taking the characters in the direction of an actual relationship, given the attention given to the subject and the way the roles were played by the actors. Acting choices by Seth Numrich especially made me believe there was supposed to be an off screen relationship forming that would reveal itself but was then decided against. Perhaps because Anna's character had already been so much with many of male characters, this was decided against, but I would've truly enjoyed seeing these characters be end game, and Ben would've been a healthy choice in partner by far. Nevertheless, it is what it is, but I couldn't help but jot down some moments in the alternate story I've created in my head. Some pieces will be shorter or longer, and this collection will revolve around the fourth season and immediately thereafter. There will be another collection revolving around the following years. There apparently doesn't seem much interest in this ship, but i hope anyone who reads this will be entertained.

Set directly before 4.01

Abigail saw Ben watch Anna cross the tents to her cart, pausing when she turned and gave him a soft smile before nodding slightly and disappearing into his tent. Abigail chuckled, setting the blanket she had just folded on top of others and Anna raised an eyebrow, coming around a trunk. “What are you having a laugh at?”

“That Tallmadge boy is looking fine,” Abigail said softly. “And his gaze follows you through the camp.”

“He’s protective.”

“ _Anna_. He is in love with you.”

She spun around. “What? Abigail…”

The maid smiled knowingly. “You’re shocked? You always had the hearts of all the boys in town.”

Anna shook her head, chuckling. “That’s because there were so few of us girls to begin with.”

“Ben Tallmadge always had eyes for you. You still wear that locket he gave you.”

Anna’s hand flew to the chain around her neck. The locket was a small, sterling oval with ornate scroll that she kept tucked into her corset. It had been tucked in the tree one Christmas when she was sixteen. She always assumed it was from Abe, they began courting shortly after. When she said how lovely the locket was, he’d simply smiled and nodded. _“Indeed.”_ She never brought it up again, thinking it a sweet secret between them. “This is was from Ben?”

Abigail cocked her head. “Surely he told you?”

Anna shook her head, at a loss.

“He asked my help in slipping it in. Shy boy for such a giant. He saved up for it.”

Anna’s head was spinning. “I’ll be back.”

She stumbled through the mud, across the grounds to Ben’s tent, throwing back the flap and ducking in. Ben jumped and then realized it was her. “You could ask permission,” he hissed, going to back to the map rolled out on his table.

She ignored him. “Did you give me my locket?”

He froze. “What?”

“My locket.”

He averted his gaze. “What does...?”

“The truth, Ben. Tell me.”

He busied himself with straightening papers. “A trinket,” he said dismissively. “From a long time ago.”

The words were barely out of his mouth before Anna was at his side. Gently, she took his face between her hands, rising up on her tiptoes to kiss his chin, testing, before brushed her lips against his. He froze, but only for a moment. Then, he slipped his arms around her and lifted her off the ground.

“That is the sweetest gift I’ve ever received,” she whispered against his mouth.

Ben kissed her again but came to his senses and let her go. He stepped away from her like she burned him. She did. She burned through his veins like a drug. “Anna, we can’t.”

“Why did you never tell me?”

His shoulders slumped. “It doesn’t matter anymore.”

“ _Why_?”

He cupped her cheek. “Because you began courting Abe and I didn’t want to fight over you. I wanted to earn you.”

“I never knew there was a choice between you.”

Ben laughed humorlessly. “You would’ve chosen Abe.”

She frowned and pushed away from him. “I’d like to think that I would be the judge of that.”

“You know it’s true.” He turned away and gathered some papers and his journal. “Now if you’ll excuse me, _Mrs. Strong_ , I have a meeting.”

“Ben we should discuss this.”

“Why? For what?”

Anna held his hand and though he didn’t pull away, he didn’t return the squeeze, his hand hung limp in hers. Since Andre’s execution, Ben had been in a foul mood. He didn’t speak of it much, only returning to camp hunched over, scowling. She’d entered his tent after giving him a moment to himself and found him with his back to her, bent over his desk, shoulders shaking. She’d slipped up behind him and wrapped her arms around his middle and pressed her cheek against his back, squeezing. He didn’t pull away, instead laid a hand over hers and whispered, _“I’m alright.”_

Now his face was steel, and she dropped his hand. “You’re right. There’s nothing to say.”

There was a flicker in his eyes but he inclined his head slightly and brushed past her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A quiet moment between Ben and Anna after the disastrous prisoner exchange

Between 4.03 and 4.04

Ann crept into the hospital tent long after most lanterns had been extinguished. Caleb was unconscious, Ben slumped uncomfortably in a chair next to him, dozing. “Ben?” She shook his shoulder gently. “Ben.”

He started and blinked owlishly, shaking his head. “I must’ve dozed off.”

“Because you need sleep. You need to eat something as well.”

“I can’t.”

“Ben…”

His voice rose just slightly. “Judge Woodhull’s body is in the barn, Abe is quitting, and Caleb is recovering from torture. I should sleep?”

Anna kept her hand on his arm, soothing but firm. In the months since joining the camp, she had become the only one he would listen to on certain matters, though the conversation quickly descended into bickering before the issue was resolved. It was a dance, covering something that lurked just below the surface though they rarely spoke of it. There were soft smiles, knuckles grazed against the back of her arm, fingers reaching out to intertwine in moments they both needed bolstering. “Yes. You’ve barely slept since he was grabbed.” She tucked a loose piece of hair behind his ear. “He’s safe now. He’ll sleep until morning.”

“Where is Abe?”

“The barn. I slipped him something for sleep. The judge’s body is wrapped. He’ll have to be buried soon though.” She held out her hand. “There’s nothing left for you to do right now. Come.”

Ben reached out and squeezed Caleb’s arm before allowing her to pull him along. Rain was beginning to pelt down and he tucked her close as they hurried across camp and held the flap to his tent up for her. When he ducked in after her, he froze. In the middle of his tent was a tub, steam rising from the water. Anna went to stand by it shyly.

“You did this?”

She grinned. “How long has it been since you had an actual bath?”

He sagged. He should refuse. So many had gone without comforts as well as pay, but he was touched. How long she’d spent dragging in buckets of boiling water, he’d never know. “Where did you even…?”

“The barn. Full of surprises.”

“My thanks to Captain Elliot then.” He still stood, rooted in place. “Why?”

She cocked her head. “When is the last time you had someone take care of you? You take care of everyone else, everything else.”

He swallowed. “Thank you.”

Anna rocked back on her heel excitedly. “Come on, then. I had to get the water boiling for each bucket to keep it warm enough, get in.”

Ben didn’t need to be told twice. He began kicking off his boots and jacket but stopped when she hadn’t moved. She rolled her eyes and turned away.

“I can manage.”

“You certainly cannot. The water grows cold. And I’ve seen you naked.”

He pulled off his shirt and narrowed his eyes at her. “When?”

“The Point.”

His eyes bulged, but he continued undressing, glaring at her back. “You used to sneak down there while we swam?”

“Just like you and Abe would try to peep in the windows when I would spend the night with Caleb’s sister.”

He grinned. “Touche.”

“Don’t worry, I saw very little.”

Ben could hear the humor in her voice but was still disgruntled. “It was _cold_.” He sank into the water and sighed. “This is scalding, but it’s the best thing I’ve felt in a long time.” Hands dipped into the water beside him with a bar of soap and his mouth dropped open. “Where did you get that?”

“I have my ways.” She scrubbed his neck and shoulders, working her way into his hair. He closed his eyes and groaned. Grinning, Anna worked the lather behind his ears. “You aren’t hard to please.”

“This was hard work.” He grabbed her hand from his hair and squeezed it. “Thank you, Anna. Truly.”

She smiled at him resumed scrubbing, before speaking low. “I wrote to Selah.”

Ben stiffened. He didn’t speak though, allowing her to find the words. He never tried to find them for her or pry them from her.

“The men are going to mutiny. I begged him to come to New Windsor camp and see for himself and move Congress to resolve the issue.”

“So, he knows you’re here.”

Her fingers stopped. “It was unavoidable.”

He nodded but continued to be distracted. He was ill at ease, so much so he showed little resistance to her presence.

She leaned forward over his shoulder. “I was worried for you.”

He shivered from her breath on his wet skin.

“Abe will come around, you know,” Anna whispered, trailing fingers through the water.

“Maybe.”

“He lost his father. He has a right to be angry, to want to bury him in Setauket.”

“Anything is a damn sight more than my brother got.”

The bitterness in his voice was unnatural, so unlike Ben, but his brother was a sore spot. Anna kissed his shoulder. “We all miss Samuel, Ben. He hasn’t been forgotten. Nor what you’ve done in this war. You’ve sacrificed much.”

“So have you. I’m sorry for what this has cost you.” He swallowed and leaned his head against hers. “You need to go.”

“For my virtue?”

“For mine.” He turned to look at her, his gaze resting on her lips, mere inches from his. “You test it daily.”

Anna closed her eyes and leaned her forehead against his. The gossip around camp had reached Ben’s ears, and he didn’t seem to mind, mostly because it kept her safe from other men as well as gave her freedom of movement. But there was a difference between knowing the truth and making truth of the lie, and that was a line Ben would not cross. He walked it daily, walked it now, giving into temptation just slightly to ease the want in him, but Anna knew he would not lay down with her if she was Selah’s wife. “Alright,” She whispered. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

Ben waited until he heard the fabric of her dress brush through the entrance of his tent before groaning and letting himself sink below the water.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An emotionally charged moment in the barn after Selah visits camp

During 4.6

When Mary stormed out of the barn after Ben silenced her, he gently brushed his hand against Anna’s, the first physical contact between them since before Selah’s arrival in camp. “She has every right to be angry,” Anna finally whispered.

“Then she can take it up with Abe.” He braced himself. “But, bringing the conversation back around to _your_ husband before Mary barged in-will you divorce him?”

_“Anna, look, I told Selah you were needed here.”_

_“But you didn’t tell him he could take me back to Philadelphia whenever he wanted?”_

_“Well, he can. But he didn’t, and maybe that means he won’t.”_

_Anna chuckled. “No, it means he’s changed. He’s not the same man I married.”_

_A slight flicker of fear and loss lit Ben’s eyes but was gone quickly. “Does that make you happy?”_

Anna shook her head. “I…”

“Will you let Abe go?”

She frowned, meeting his gaze for the first time.

Ben sighed heavily. “Anna.” He paused, thinking, and then squared his shoulders, having decided. “I am tired. Selah is your husband, so I respect that and tread lightly. But Abe is not. He belongs to Mary.” He swallowed. “Choose. But leave me out of it.

Anna stomped her foot, kicking hay at him in frustration. “And _I_ grow tired of being bartered and having to use myself as a woman to serve.”

“Have I ever forced you to do such things?” Ben snapped, angrily. “Hm? I chose you because I trusted you and I knew you could do the job. You are a beautiful, desirable woman, but no one forced you to marry Selah when Abe broke off your engagement, and Abe didn’t force you to rekindle your romance, you were a willing participant. No one forced you to woo Hewlett. No one forced you to woo Simcoe.”

She stepped forward interrupt, but he moved away and shook his head. “I understand why you did it and appreciate it, a weaker woman could never do what you’ve done, but you could’ve stopped at any time. You could’ve gone to Philadelphia, but you stayed in Setauket. For _Abe_. A man you were _never_ going to have a future with.”

Anna gaped at Ben, shocked. In all their squabbling, he’d never been cruel. Selah’s visit had unnerved him though. He barely glanced her way during her husband’s visit, his guilt written all over his face. “What was I supposed to do? Let Abe be killed in that duel with Simcoe? Let Edmund be killed by Abraham?”

The sweet young man she’d known all her life disappeared and the Continental major took his place. “Yes,” he said, unemotional. “It’s war. Let people deal with the consequences of their own choices. Stop cleaning up after men that’ve never done right by you. Stop accepting so little.” He looked at his feet, embarrassed that he revealed so much. “Just…choose. Don’t come to my tent tonight.”

Ben almost made it to the door before she spoke, glaring at his back. “You keep saying I should choose. What about you?”

He smiled ruefully and opened the door, letting the light in. “I already have. I chose you years ago.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eve of the Battle of Yorktown

During 4.09

Anna was able to spot Ben moving through the soldiers milling about the camp eating their evening meals and knew from his hunched shoulders and downcast face he was feeling the weight of responsibility for all the lives around him. He was down to his breeches and untucked shirt, hair down, the rest of his uniform cast aside and it caused her pause. In her time in camp she’d never seen him disheveled. His sheer size caused his subordinates to pause. He’d had always been gangly. As a child, his limbs were longer than the body that had yet to catch up, towering over Caleb and Abe. He always been the sweetest in the lot, the kind of sweetness that older women who knew better, prized. _“That one is the best of them,”_ her mother mused, nodding at him running through the alley to catch up with the other two after being the one to stop and apologize pick and up the basket of apples they’d knocked over in a hasty retreat to the woods.

A young girl would have picked out the swarthy, flirtatious Caleb or, as she did, the daring Abe. Now though, Anna realized what her mother had meant. All three boys were prizes, but Ben had grown to be so much more than anyone had expected. Forever serving others, he donned the uniform of an officer and wore it well. He’d been raised motherless but spoke softly. He and his brother were raised by their father to be gentlemen, but Samuel was more boisterous and prone to fighting. Ben, though never one to shy away from fists, was slower to anger. He loved books and language, stealing away for hours preferring no one’s company but his own.

This hadn’t changed.

Anna followed him to the edge of camp. He’d found a log with a view of the field beyond the hill. He’d long been prone to wandering off to be by himself, but it seemed wrong to be alone that night. He smiled at her and she saw that as an invitation to sit. “What are you thinking about?”

“Just enjoying the sunset.”

It wasn’t true. He was always mulling over something, but she allowed him his privacy. “What will you do when this is over?”

Ben chuckled. “I hadn’t thought of it honestly. Tried not to I suppose. I just want this to be over and be worth it.”

“Think about it now.”

He gazed out at the sunset, a red and orange one that made the evening seem warmer than it was. The quickly cooling night reminded them that fall was approaching. “I suppose I would like to teach again. I miss it. Perhaps even return to college and become a professor.” He smiled at her but then looked away again just as quickly. “I’m jealous of Abe. I didn’t realize it until we went to Setauket to rescue my father. I think I could be happy with a schoolhouse and home with a large fireplace…and a pretty wife to bear me children to fill it.”

Anna smiled softly, but with so much unsettled between them, the discomfort was palpable. “You will have those things.”

“Maybe.”

She laid a hand on his. “You will survive this, Ben.”

“If I don’t, I couldn’t have picked a better evening to make my last. My only regret is that I might not see another fall.”

It was his favorite season. He missed cool evenings in Setauket when dusk fell, and the fog rolled in over the fields and hanged low over the water. He and Samuel would sit on the porch under blankets growing damp with night dew, playing with toy soldiers. They would drink tea and eat cookies and fall asleep, and when his father carried him to bed, he would pretend to sleep and breathe in his scent-soap and smoke from the fireplace. He looked down at their clasped hands and rubbed his thumb over her knuckles. “I need something from you.”

Her brows knitted together. “Ben..”

“Not…not that.” Not true. He needed a lot of things from her, but they’d barely spoken since their fight in the barn He let her hand go and reached into his jacket. “Promise me if I fall at Yorktown this letter reaches my father. If possible, have my body taken home to be laid to rest next to my mother. I’d like to be buried with my men on the battlefield but with my brother buried at sea, I know my father would wish me home.”

“Stop it.”

“I wouldn’t ask you,’ he continued. “But you’re the only piece of home here right now. I’ve already asked Caleb as well, but I know you would help see it done. He’s made his wishes known to me as well and I suspect he will tell you the same if he sees you. If I fall, get to Philadelphia, camp won’t be safe for you. See that Mary and Thomas get there as well.”

“Don’t ask this of me.”

“Please, Anna, for once just do as you’re told.”

She shook her head, pushing the letter away. “I refuse.”

“Anna…”

“Is this what we are going to talk about tonight?”

He met her gaze. “We’ll talk after battle if I live. I promise.”

“And if you don’t?” Tears formed, but she wiped at them furiously. “Am I to live with this?”

“I won’t touch you,” he said firmly.

“Because I’m shamed?”

“Because you’re not mine. And I won’t touch you until you are.”

“You and your bloody propriety. People already believe we’re lovers. I’ve spent nights in your tent.”

“Selah was my friend. I have coveted not just my neighbor’s wife, but my friend’s. I won’t add to my transgressions. I want you more than anything, you might sleep in my bed, but I will not _have_ you while you are another man's wife.”

Anna stood. “Selah is _gone_. He’s in Philadelphia.”

“And what of Abe?” Ben asked, almost bitterly.

She swallowed. Would Abe Woodhull ever stop being the ghost between her and a chance at happiness? “Abe was a wound that took a long time to heal and I married Selah too quickly; but what I had with Abe is what it is. It’s in the past and it was a love from childhood.”

“That isn’t nothing,” Ben assured her.

“No, but I believe there is a verse that says to put away childish things and clinging to something I can’t have is childish. We have grown past that.” She fidgeted with the edge of her shawl. “I’ve grown close to Mary and Thomas. I regret to have hurt them in my refusal to let go of the past.”

“Abe is a childhood friend.” Ben stood and came close but didn’t touch her. “I will lose a friend in Selah over this already.”

“His choices hurt me. Abe broke his engagement to me after years of courtship and married another woman. He didn’t choose me; out of honor or otherwise, he chose Mary.” Their fingers brushed. “If he genuinely loved me, he wouldn’t have. It’s taken me a long time to realize this.”

“What brought about this change of heart?” he whispered hoarsely. “Why did you stay in camp? After Selah visited.”

Anna thought back to her departure from Setauket and the despair and loneliness that followed, lightened by the acceptance into Caleb and Ben’s old friendship and confidence. Hours spent in Ben’s tent, squabbling and laughing; making sure he kept himself fed and helping him with the buttons on his vest. “I think you know.”

Ben visibly swallowed. He stared out into the night so long she thought he must’ve forgotten she was there but then his gaze slowly returned to her. He wanted to argue, tell her that friends simply didn’t do such things to each other, but he found no words. Because she was right. Selah was gone and Abe was married with a son. The bond he’d formed with Anna in a cold Continental camp was unwavering and what he’d come to rely on in the years since the war had defined their lives.

“It’s alright to want something for yourself, Ben,” she whispered. Her lip trembled. “I know I’m a fallen woman-”

“I don’t care about that. You’re not fallen.” He’d seen enough men with wives carrying on with barmaids to know the scales of justice were not always balanced. He cupped her cheek, and his thumb traced her bottom lip, but he did not kiss her. “I must go.”

Anna squeezed her eyes shut and refused to watch him brush past her.

OOOOOOOOOO

Anna entered his hours later and stood before him twisting her hands. Ben didn’t rise from his stretched-out position on his bed but wasn’t shocked when she entered. The foreboding was palpable. Everyone felt the tension. This was big. Tomorrow and the coming days would be crucial. She hadn’t shown up in his tent since their fight in the barn. There’d been times he almost broke, he’d been sorry almost immediately, but he held fast and refused to be the one to break. He’d grudgingly sent extra pillows to her cart though, knowing she practically slept on boards. The night Ben returned to camp with Caleb and Abe and the judge’s body, he’d crept into her cart, still dressed in civilian clothes and cursing softly when tripping over items. He sought comfort with her that night, nudging her and collapsing onto the little bunk next to her.

_“Abe is fine. Caleb will be fine.” His fingertips caressed her cheek. “The judge is gone though. Walter Havens too.”_

_She squeezed his hand, tears pricking her eyes. “It’s not your fault, Ben.”_

_He shifted, changing the subject. This is the worst bed I’ve ever slept in and I shared a bed with Samuel until I was eight.”_

_“Imagine poor Samuel having to share a bed with you until he was ten.”_

He’d grinned despite the cloud of grief hovering over them and drifted off, exhausted and lulled to sleep by her fingertips brushing through his hair. She’d slipped out later to go to the barn to wait for Abe to wake and when Ben found her there later after waking alone, he wasn’t surprised, but jealousy crossed his face only once before burying it.

After that, he left his lantern lit on rainy nights, waiting for her. She started sleeping in his tent occasionally on nights when the rain came down hard and sideways, sneaking in after camp was quiet and back out before the sun was up. She slipped in one night with a soaked cloak and neither said a word; Ben simply held back the blanket and cocked his head. _Get in._ His guilt at betraying Selah ate at him, but he would have her crawl between him and the side of tent, putting himself between her and the entrance, and roll away from her, to keep a line of prudence in a reckless situation. He missed her when she wasn’t there though. The comfort of _home_ , of having someone close, was too tempting to resist. Now, he was just mad at her. He was mad at himself. He was mad at this insane situation.

“What if I ask Selah for a divorce and he doesn’t follow through with Congress about pay for the soldiers?” Anna blurted.

He sat up. “Is that what makes you hesitate? If that happens then Selah is not the man I believe him to be. That isn’t something you should carry on your shoulders.”

Anna’s knuckles were white, and a tear escaped the corner of her eye. “Ben, I choose you. More than anything.” She held up a letter. “I’ve written to Selah asking for a divorce.”

He felt like the wind had been knocked out of him. “Are you sure?” he breathed.

“Are you?”

Ben stood and took the letter. He scanned the contents and then cupped her chin. “You’re not just doing this because of what is coming?”

She clasped his wrist. “I’m doing this because it’s what I want. It is the right thing to do. And I wanted to tell you before we left.”

“Before _I_ left.”

“I…”

“No arguments. Not tonight.” Ben sighed and gently, leaned in down to kiss the tip of her nose. “You’re cold.”

Anna smiled and leaned into him and he kissed her, deeply, as if he finally allowing himself to let go of everything he’d been holding in for over a year. His hands slipped under her cloak, around her waist, fingers digging into her sides, as if he were trying to get past the layer of fabric in his way, and they bumped into the table, snapping them both out of it. She leaned back against it gasping, and he pressed his forehead against hers, breathing heavily. When he could speak again, he whispered hoarsely, “Get in bed.”

He turned away to give her some privacy, but she stood rooted in place watching yank his shirt over his head. Anna stepped closer to examine him in the lantern light, really taking the time to look at him. All lankiness gone from his frame, replaced with a strong core and broad shoulders. Scars were scattered across his flesh, some fresh. A pink bullet wound on his abdomen caught her eye when he turned back around and she traced it with her fingers and he hissed, grasping her fingers. “Your hands are _cold.”_

“How many times have you been shot?”

“Including the time Caleb nicked me in the calf?”

She snorted.

“Three.” He turned her. “Now get in bed.”

She quickly shed her outer layers and scampered across the blankets to her spot. He climbed in after her, but instead of rolling away, he slowly and hesitantly put an arm around her, pulling her close. She smiled into his chest, content and touched by the sweetness of his manner. He kissed her forehead and murmured more for himself than her, “Sleep.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end of the Battle of Yorktown

During 4.09

It had been nearly three weeks.

Distant gunfire and explosions were so common no one jumped anymore. Fighting was almost around the clock; men being carried into the hospital tents on stretchers as bodies were being taken out. Each day, Anna walked through the aisles with her soiled dress, searching for familiar faces. It kept her sane in a way. Another day would pass without Ben or Caleb or Abe among the blood and rotting flesh, and she could breathe. Mary would squeeze her eyes shut and silently pray, only her lips moving, while Anna ran her fingertip down the list of known missing or dead, and then squeeze her arm when Anna would say, _“They’re not here.”_

But when Abe had been wounded before her eyes that day when she was helping on the field, something in Anna snapped stood, needing to see Ben. He would be furious when he found out she’d been on the battlefield and even more angry she sought him out. There’d been no word or letters, since they’d stood together the morning the Continentals moved on Yorktown.

_Ben was fumbling with the buttons on his vest. “Stay here. It’s safe here, behind the lines. I’ll come find you when it’s over.” He smiled softly at her downtrodden face and lifted her chin. “I will.”_

_Anna sighed and pushed his hands out of the way. “Here, you missed a few.”_

_She buttoned his vest and smoothed the arms on his jacket. “You look like a proper officer.”_

_They stood together, close, but not touching, and for once neither knew what to say to the other. They’d woken that morning in a tangle of limbs, laying in silence knowing the other was awake, before Ben whispered, “I have to go.”_

_And what was there to say? They’d had so little time together. Squabbles and stolen moments they didn’t realize were moments at all, were cobbled together over the course of a year. Was that to be all they had?_

_Anna spoke first. “I…”_

_“Don’t say it.”_

_“Should we have a code word then?” she teased._

_He grinned and squinted, looking up at the sky splitting through the trees. “1-4-3,” he decided, squeezing her hand three times. He looked at her and leaned in, murmuring, “1-4-3.”_

_She wanted more time, but he was already turning his thoughts to the battle. He squeezed her hand again before dropping it very deliberately and flipped his helmet up on his head, adjusting it nervously. He smiled at her again, gazing at her for a moment too long, his eyes tracing her face, memorizing every detail._

_Anna opened her mouth, but he shook his head slightly and stepped back, knowing he would be unable to bear it. He gave her another soft smile before turning his back and walking away, stiffly. She watched him until he disappeared through the crowd of soldiers, waiting for him to turn back for one last glimpse, knowing he would not._

Now, she rode in the back of cart full of supplies heading for Ben’s encampment only a few miles from the hospital tent she’d spent the last few weeks. Dusk was falling, early, heralding the coming winter, but battle was still heard. She jumped at the cannon fire, closer now, clutching her cloak, tighter about her. Upon arrival, she immediately began searching for familiar faces, asking for Brewster or Tallmadge.

“Brewster?” a hunched soldier asked, pointing over a fire. “You might find him over there.”

Anna slowly made her way through camp, stopping at each tent. “Caleb?” she finally started calling. “Caleb Brewster!”

“Annie?”

She spun and Caleb stood there, wide eyed and burly as ever. “What are you doing here?” he asked. “Are you insane?”

Anna flung herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Caleb!” She drew back, curling her lip. “Good lord, you stink.”

“And you’re a sight for sore eyes.” He set her down, and fear was in his eyes. “Is Abe…”

“He’s fine. He’ll be fine”

Caleb exhaled in relief. “Ben’s going to blow his stack when he sees you.”

“Where is he?”

“With Washington.” He waved off her coming questions. “He’s fine.”

“How is he?”

Caleb’s eyes softened. “You can see for yourself. He’s lonely for you, Annie. But damn if he won’t be madder than a hornet with you being here, especially when he finds out you were on the field today.”

“I’ll deal with him.” Anna squeezed his arm. “How are you?”

“It’s almost over.” Caleb grinned. “By Christ, we’ve almost got them whipped.” Caleb took her hand. “C’mon. Ben’s with Washington. I’ll take you to his tent.”

OOOOOOOOOO

It was well after dark before the flap lifted, startling Anna out of the dozed state she was in reclining on his bed. She sat up, straight, and he jumped, comically. Ben’s face went from shock to confusion and finally settled on anger. Angrier than Anna had ever seen him. He crossed the room and she stood. “Ben…”

He stopped short of touching her. “What are you doing here? You think because we’re in camp we’re safe?” He tossed his jacket over the bed and sighed, exhausted. “Damn you, Anna. Why are you _here_?”

Anna didn’t budge. “To see this through. My fate is tied to the cause. To you.”

Ben’s shoulders slumped and she could feel him giving in. What was there to do? She was here. He held out his arms and she didn’t hesitate, kissing his neck and face. “I was afraid I would never see you again.”

“Are you hurt?”

“No, nothing that needs attention.”

“You look ready to fall over, lets get you to bed.” She helped him to the bed and pulled off his boots when he collapsed on the bed. “Lift your arms.” He did as he was told, and she removed his vest. “Rest. I’ll see if I can’t scrounge you some food.”

“Stay. Just stay with me. I’ll have to go back out soon enough.”

Ben was dozing when she slipped into his tent again with food and a kettle. Smiling, she set the bowl of soup and crusty bread beside him and poured the water from the kettle into the wash bowl. She was loathe to wake him, but he murmured, “You are too good to me.”

“Here,” Anna said, bringing the bowl over. “Wash up. You’ll feel better.”

He sat up and splashed the water over his face. “What I wouldn’t give to dive into this bowl.” He scrubbed his arms. “That smells good.”

“Just some broth and potatoes.” She held the bowl out. “Caleb has some jerky and coffee he’s going to bring later.”

“He’s off the field?”

“Till the morrow.”

He closed his, swallowing the soup. “I can’t sleep knowing there are men out there.”

She stood between his knees and squeezed his shoulders. “This is almost over. Sleep now.”

OOOOOOOOOO

Caleb slipped in later and froze. Ben and Anna slept atop the blankets, Anna curled against him while he reclined with one arm around her and one behind his head. Caleb turned to make a retreat, but one of Ben’s eyes popped open and frowned, waving him away. Caleb held up a pot and Ben nodded, waving again.

Caleb slipped back out and waited in the brisk night, watching his breath appear in puffs. Ben’s tall frame ducked out and he grinned and clapped Caleb’s back. “Good to see you, mate.”

“Aye.” Caleb handed him a mug and raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t.”

Caleb chuckled, pouring coffee into both their mugs. “Don’t worry I’ve known about you two for months.”

Ben choked. “How…?”

Caleb couldn’t help but laugh. “You are the _worst_ liar, Ben.”

“Nothing has ha…”

“You don’t need to explain yourself to me.”

Ben snorted into his mug. “You’re the only one.”

“Maybe.” Caleb took a sip of his own coffee. “You still need her though, Ben. You’re better with her around.”

“How did you figure it out?”

Caleb’s eyes twinkled. “You’ve had it for her since we were kids.”

Ben grumbled, embarrassed. Looking back, Caleb had pretty much asked him years before when they raided Setauket.

_“You don’t believe Anna has a right to know her husband is alive?”_

_“It’s nothing personal, Caleb. It’s a discipline, a rule, as Mr. Sackett calls it.”_

But it had been personal, and he had prayed the Lord’s forgiveness since. He was bitter Selah lived and Samuel died. It killed him to see Selah kiss Anna in the square at their reunion.

“I was suspicious for a while,” Caleb continued. “When you were out of it after falling into the Delaware, you were hallucinating. You kept calling for Anna. But the day Mary came to camp, that’s when I knew.”

Ben frowned.

“When you and Anna rode on horseback to greet us. When she dismounted, she used the pommel of your saddle to hold onto.” Caleb held up a hand and wiggled his fingers. “You laid a hand over hers.”

“So?”

“It’s an intimate gesture, Ben. Though had it been anyone else I might not have batted an eye, but I know Ben Tallmadge would never touch a lady so casually.”

Ben rolled his eyes but couldn’t argue.

“What about Selah?”

“I don’t know. He all but accused me in my tent when he visited, within the hour of arriving. Can’t say I blame him.”

“What about Abe?”

Ben shot him a look. Abe and Ben had a contentious relationship before the war, not really enemies, but not really friends in a long time. The fracture in their relationship had been on account of Anna, though how deep Ben’s feelings ran for her was something Caleb was pretty sure Abe never knew. Caleb sighed and shook his head. “I can’t help you there, Tall-boy. But I do know that…there’s just something very right about you two being together. I guess the rest will just have to work itself out.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Short scene regarding Anna's marriage

During 4.10 after arriving in Philadelphia

Growling, Ben threw back the covers and watched the shadows on his tent walls from the candlelight. He hadn’t slept much in the past few days, between celebrations over Yorktown and settling into Philadelphia. He’d fallen into bed at a quarter after one after leaving Washington and had yet to sleep though he knew dawn was coming in an hour. He’d left Selah at Anna’s cart hours ago, the only sound between the two the gravel crunching under their boots as they made the long walk to camp. Ben hated every minute of it, the feeling of leaving his fate up to the two of them, terrified of what he would do if Anna decided to remain married to her husband and hated himself for wishing against it. He hated himself, for Selah knowing who to go to find his wife. He shook Selah’s hand before leaving him among Anna’s belongings knowing that however it turned out, it would be the last time they parted as friends and those he counted in that circle were quickly dwindling. 

“Ben.”

Anna stood in the doorway. The dim lighting contoured her face and he swallowed. “Yes?”

“May I come in?”

He nodded and stood. “I’m afraid I don’t have any coffee or tea-“

“It’s done,” she interrupted.

“What is?”

“My divorce. Selah agreed.”

Ben crossed the ground in two strides and pulled her in, their lips crashing together. She froze, shocked but then wrapped her arms around his neck. “I thought you would stay with him,’’ he whispered against her mouth. “I expected you gone.”

Anna cupped his face and realized his cheeks were wet. “My love.”

He covered her hands with his own. “Are you alright?”

She slipped way from him. “Yes. Yes, I think so.” He heard the emotion in her voice though. “Selah and I are different people now. We all are, I suppose. But we’ve spent more years in our marriage apart than together.” She sat on the bed. “He came to me, clutching my letter, bound and determined to convince me otherwise, but we talked for hours, and we realized…we didn’t miss each other. Not really, not like a husband and wife should.” Ben came and crouched in front of her. “Companionship was our mainstay, but I think we realize after all this…we should want more.” Ben covered her hand with his own and she smiled. “I think he has his eye on a society girl here. So…she will be much better suited as the wife of a congressman.”

“You sell yourself short, Anna.”

“Anyway, we’ll have this taken care of quickly,” she said dismissively.

“It’s the dissolution of your marriage, Anna,” Ben said softly, squeezing her fingers. “You’re allowed to feel something about it.”

She squeezed his fingers back tightly, as if they were the only thing keeping her from falling over an abyss. “It just feels like such a failure.”

Ben wanted to object, but he knew she didn’t need that. She needed to simply feel it. Rise the waves of grief, failure, and relief, and come out on the other side. Gently, he pushed her back. He pulled her shoes off and she didn’t protest when he pulled the covers up. He smiled softly at her and wiped away the tears from her cheeks. “Just sleep now. I’ll keep watch. It’s almost a new day.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end of a hard year. New year, new beginnings.

After Yorktown

When Ben, Caleb and Abe returned to Philadelphia again, snow was on the ground and Christmas had passed earlier in the week. Festivities were still in full swing in anticipation of the New Year, and the crowd that met them when they slipped into the coffee house was shoulder to shoulder and joyful. Anna saw Caleb first and threw her arms around him as he swung her. “Annie!”

“Caleb, did you just arrive? Where is…”

Ben was beside her suddenly and squeezed her hand. “Here.”

“Ben,” she gasped. “When you didn’t return with the others last week…”

“We did some scouting.” He kissed her hand, hoping she knew how much he wanted to kiss her lips. _Later_ , he wanted to tell her.

Abe and Mary joined and greeted them before anything else could be said and they grabbed two tables and pushed them together. They all spoke so candidly and fondly, and it made Anna sad that it would soon end. When Abe found out about them, she knew she and Ben would lose yet another piece of home. They would still have Caleb though. He touched her knee under the table and smiled at her sadly as if he knew what she was thinking. Dear Caleb was insightful and he was insane and she prayed he would always remain Ben’s closest friend. Eventually, after food and ale, Abe and Mary left to put Thomas to bed and Caleb grinned broadly at the two of them before making some excuse about finding a wench to share a drink with.

With just the two of them, they seemed at a loss for words, but Ben held her hand under the table. “I missed you,” he whispered. “I hope your room has been acceptable.”

“It has. Ben, you didn’t have to do that.”

After the victorious return to Philadelphia, Ben insisted on getting her a room at the boarding house attached to the coffee house. She needed to stay in Philadelphia while her divorce from Selah was finalized and Ben would have never let her back in camp again regardless. The ring was pretty much done, and he no longer wanted her living out of the cart with another winter coming on.

“Yes I did.”

“Well I have a Christmas present for you.”

“And I you.”

Anna’s eyes brightened and she grinned. “Another locket?”

He smirked, but pulled a package from his jacket. Like a child, she attacked it and he watched, bemused. It was a beautiful pink silk scarf with red flowers stitched on it. “Ben,” she gasped, wrapping it around her shoulders. “Where did you get this?”

“Bought it off one of the French soldiers with Lafayette.”

“Ben, thank you.”

He snuck a quick kiss of her knuckles. “Now me.”

She smiled softly and a little shyly. “My divorce is final.”

His eyebrows raised and heart leapt a little, but he didn’t want to appear too pleased at a divorce.

“It’s been surprisingly cordial. Issue free. I…I have a lot to be grateful to Selah for. He didn’t have to be this way.”

“I want to be married to you,” Ben said suddenly.

Her eyes widened in surprise, but she smiled. “And I you,” she teased.

“No, I mean it. Tomorrow.”

She leaned back. “Tomorrow?”

“This isn’t the way I would want it,” he rushed. “You deserve more, I imagined our wedding differently. But I want to be married to you before I go again.”

Anna was speechless. “I…I have nothing to wear.”

Ben grinned. “Does that mean you’ll marry me? In this?” He playfully tugged on her skirt.

She slapped his hand and looked ready to object again until he touched her cheek. “I’ve waited long enough for you. Hasn’t this been what we wanted?” He kissed her fingers. “A new start with the new year.”

She wanted to object. It was too soon, they had no plans…all the excuses in the world. She knew that’s all there would ever be; always excuses, always whispers. It seemed pointless to hesitate when Ben was right. This was what they wanted. She reached out and clasped his hand again. “Yes. I’ll marry you.”

OOOOOOOOOO

They were married Dec. 30th, 1781.

Ben wore his officer’s uniform and Anna a deep blue silk dress Martha insisted on when Ben asked Washington to officiate their wedding. They were expecting to simply have a quick ceremony, but Martha had clasped Anna’s hand and dragged her upstairs. _“This color will look lovely on you,” she said laying it over the chair, despite Anna’s protests. “It won’t take much to have it altered, I rarely wear it.”_

_“It is lovely,” Anna admitted, touching the fabric. “It’s the color of Ben’s eyes.”_

_“As twice married myself, I know it’s often thought the woman shouldn’t want the wedding of her dreams again. But it is important. Now step in and we’ll get this fitted.”_

The dress was well worth the look in Ben’s eyes when she appeared in the doorway. The two of them insisted Ben’s tent, even the middle of camp would fine, but Washington insisted they be married at the house he resided at in Philadelphia. There were no flowers, but Martha had woven a few sprigs of mistletoe through her hair. Ben squeezed her hand, mouthing _“you are beautiful_ ,” before Washington began to speak before their little party. Caleb, the Washingtons, and a few servants-that is all who witnessed. So many were absent, and it caused an ache in both their hearts, but it was also somehow perfect. They exchanged vows, then drank wine and ate cookies. Once the party dispersed, Washington shook Ben’s hand after he helped Anna into the carriage and tucked a blanket around her. “I wish you would consider our offer to stay the night here and break the fast with us in the morning. There’s a storm brewing.”

“You’ve been too generous already. We’ve got a room at the tavern on the road out of town. I’ll report on the morning of the 2nd.”

“I believe you’ve earned an extension of your leave.”

Ben inclined his head. “Thank you, but we discussed it. We’ll honeymoon after this is over.”

Washington chuckled. “Well then may it be soon.”

Caleb walked with Ben around the carriage. “Now Tall-boy, I know you’re going to be nervous, but this is one night you don’t want to blow. It will set the tone-“

“Will you shut up?” Be groused, while Anna pretended not to hear. He gave Caleb a shove but was smiling. “I’ll see you in a few days.”

The ride to the tavern was mostly silent, given that their driver was in ear shot, but mostly because Anna was exhausted and nervous. Ben’s hand rested her knee underneath the blanket, and he leaned in. “Relax.”

Still, she couldn’t help but hold tightly to his hand with both of hers, only letting go when they reached their destination. It was warm and cozy, and thankfully quiet, and she stood holding Ben’s hand while he spoke to the barkeep, smiling when she heard, _“my wife.”_ It warmed her in a way she couldn’t explain, the word before merely a title, an agreement with a man that she never felt she belonged to. It fell from Ben’s tongue so naturally; a person wouldn’t know they’d exchanged vows only two hours before. He led the way upstairs with her satchel and a lamp, her hand holding his arm and she couldn’t help but pause at the threshold, watching him drop the bag with a sigh and set the lamp on the bedside table. He turned and raised an eyebrow seeing her still outside the room and held a hand out for her. Hesitating only briefly, knowing it was only one step between her old life and new, she smiled at him and stepped in, closing the door.

Ben tugged her hand and kissed her playfully and shrugged out of his jacket tossing it over a chair. She’s seen him to do it so many times before-in his tent, in Selah’s tavern, in his father’s home, in the schoolhouse after the last child had been dismissed, and he could finally relax and make small talk with her when she stopped by while wiping down the chalkboard. He could make himself at home anywhere and find company with anyone. “I ordered some wine and bread and cheese up,” he was saying as her mind wandered. Their room had a hearth and he warmed his hand in front of the flames, the fire having been roaring long enough that the chill had been chased from the room. “I’m not sure I could wait until the morning for food.”

Anna flopped onto the bed dramatically and he grinned. “Long day?”

“I’m exhausted. Suddenly. Unexplainably.”

Ben kicked his boots off and sat up against the headboard next to her. She rolled over and used his thigh as a pillow. “It’s been a long year,” he said softly, pulling pins and sprigs from her hair. “And today was the culmination of a lot of things.”

“It has been a long year.,” she agreed. “But a good one.”

A knock on the door interrupted them. Ben slid off the bed and opened the door enough to take the tray and murmur thanks. When he turned around Anna was in front of the fire, all shadows and light, hair spilling over her shoulders and down her back. He watched her frozen until she noticed and frowned. “What?

Ben shook his head. “I just…I just haven’t seen you with your hair down in years.”

When she was a girl, she hadn’t thought anything of it. Now as a man, it was intimate, a state no one but a husband saw a woman in. All the time in camp, her hair as always pinned up, even when sleeping. “Can you help me with my laces?” she asked, pulling her hair over one shoulder.

He set the tray on table and quietly slipped up behind her, barely breathing. He fumbled with them slightly and it only made her heart swell with love for him. He was so sure with a gun, sword, or horses, but with a woman he was unsure, instinct driving him, not completely inexperienced, but not as practiced as Abe or Selah. There was a sweetness to the moment she wanted to hold onto forever, but also began to grow impatient, his touch reverential, but she held her tongue and let him take his time. When his rough fingertips touched the skin of her back, she shivered but didn’t move as they gently slid down her spine. “You once told me you’d seen me naked,” he whispered against her neck. “I’ve yet to see you so.” His hands left her and he backed away and sat on the bench at the bottom of the bed. “Show me.”

Anna barely breathed as she turned to face him and let the heavy silk pool at her feet. Ben’s eyes never left her, but his throat bobbed when he swallowed. Slowly she let the loosed corset drop as well and she stepped out of the material to stand in front of him. Goosebumps rose on her flesh from the cold and Ben’s hand trailing from the back of her knee up her thigh. “Forgive me for staring, miss,” he whispered. “But you are beautiful.”

“Stare all you want, husband.”

He grinned at that. “Call me that again.” He loosened is cravat. “And get into bed.”

It was the dead of night before they finally tired. Ben, as all men, snored softly, sated from their lovemaking. In between they had filled their glasses with wine and eaten the food while laughing and whispering conspiratorially. The snow fell steady outside and the candles were beginning to burn low. Ben’s tall frame curled against her in the bed, buried to his nose in the blankets, his hair loose. Anna smiled, running her hands through it. It needed cut; she would have to wrestle him down before he left. A sharp pang went through her, the loss of him in a mere twenty-four hours leaving her lonely already.

Lips brought her out of her reverie, pressed gently against her shoulder moving across her collarbone. “What are you up to?” she murmured.

“Memorizing every freckle.”

He moved down.

“And what are you memorizing there?”

“Oh. This is solely for my pleasure.” He lifted her knee over his shoulder and she laughed.

OOOOOOOOOO

Caleb stumbled out of the third tavern of the night, determined to toast Ben and Anna all over Philadelphia, but was grabbed by the collar before his foot was even on the ground outside. “Oy,” he gasped. “Get yer hands off!”

He grabbed for his pistol, but Abe grabbed his hands and hissed, “What is going on? Where are they?”

Caleb winced and shoved. “What?”

“Ben and Anna. On the road. In a carriage.”

“Ah, you saw them then.”

Abe gaped, unbelieving. “So you knew?”

Caleb sighed, leaning against the bricks. “Yes.”

“How long?”

“A while.”

Abe turned to leave, but Caleb caught him. “Woody, it’s not like that.”

“No? What am I missing?”

“She’s divorced Selah. Nothing improper went on, c’mon, you know Ben. At least not before the divorce was final anyway. They spent months together.”

“Exactly, they’ve been in their own world for too long.” Abe paced. “When they get to the outside world again…”

“Abe. Stop. They’re in love. If you could see them together, you would know. She chose him, he chose her. He asked her to marry him, she said yes.” Caleb shrugged sympathetically. “I’m sorry, Abe. I am. Ben didn’t want you to find out like this. But he doesn’t have to tiptoe around you, she his wife. He does it because you were his friend. He doesn’t owe you anything else.”

Abe wouldn’t look at him. “She loves him?”

Caleb slumped. “She does. They’re married, Abe. It’s done. You have your own wife to go home to.”


	8. Tides of Change

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anna and Abe meet for the first time since her wedding.

January 1782

Ben stood with his arm around Anna on the steps of the tavern, his other hand holding hers, twisting the simple band on her ring finger. He’d found it in a shop in his hurry to find rings before their wedding. He promised her one day he would buy her a grand one. His own band was cold in his skin, and heavy, not as a shackle, but as a responsibility. Sliding the ring on her finger made him responsible for so much more than himself now. “I wish I didn’t have to leave.”

“Yes, you do. You can’t stay out of the action for long. We talked about it.”

He smiled. “Well, I wish I didn’t have to leave _you_. I wish our wedding had been more.”

“it was everything,” she interrupted, assuring him. “I will see you when you get back. I’ll be waiting.”

“I promise I won’t be gone long.” He raised an eyebrow. “Be good, Mrs. Tallmadge.”

“I’m sure I can find something to occupy my time.”

“Why does that not soothe me?”

Anna chuckled and smoothed his vest. “I’d better not hear of any camp followers following you into your tent.”

“Camp followers are too much trouble.” Ben smiled gamely, then sobered, settling for kissing her hands with their audience, then turned with determination, taking the reins of his horse from the soldier holding them. He paused only for a moment before mounting the horse and turning away to join Washington. He didn’t look back.

Washington smiled tightly when Ben’s horse fell into line beside him. “It is harder to leave now, is it not?”

“It certainly weighs on me more.”

“Aye. I remember the first time I rode away from my wife.” Washington nudged his horse forward. “I hate to say it, but it does get easier. There are many things you become desensitized to.”

Ben refused the urge to look over his shoulder. “I hope not.”

OOOOOOOOOO

Anna smiled her thanks at the shopkeeper and tucked the fabric scraps into her satchel. She stepped out into the bright winter sun that tricked one into thinking it was warmer than it was. She pulled her cloak tighter around her neck against the cold and wondered what it was like at home. She closed her eyes momentarily and breathed deeply, trying to remember how the salt air smelled coming off the water, and how the crunch of knee-deep snow felt under her feet; how satisfying it would be to crawl into bed against Ben at night in their little home with a fire crackling in the hearth, underneath the quilt she made from the scraps she was currently collecting. Ben…he’d been gone for a month, and she missed him terribly. Settling back into normalcy, into a town and a society, after being in a Continental camp for over year had proven difficult, especially without Ben. In camp, for all its discomforts, kept her close to Ben. She could look across the invisible line separating them and see him every morning and share a meal with him in the evenings. By Yorktown, she had mended his coat three times.

_“You cannot come with me,” he whispered in the early morning hours before he had to be ready to meet Washington. “You know I would rather have you with me, but the ring is done. The tide has turned but I am afraid the fighting still won’t be over for a while. You cannot be in camp with me if the worst happens.”_

Now she sat day by day, sewing, setting her mind to the new task at hand. She and Ben lost much in the years since war broke out. Rebuilding and making a home by quilt, by curtain, by every piece of furniture she dragged out of Mr. Sackett’s cart, was what she would do if she had to do it by sheer will alone.

A hand grabbed her arm and she gasped, jolting her out of her daydream.

“Hush, it’s just me.”

Anna spun. “Abe? Abe. What are you doing?”

“I might ask you the same.”

“What do you mean?”

Abe stepped back and shoved his hands in his coat. “I mean, I saw you leave the current residence of a certain Reverend Tallmadge.” His lips twisted into a thin smile. “I heard a rumor he was recently welcomed into town.”

Anna tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Abe-“

“I also heard you are Mrs. Benjamin Tallmadge now. I wanted to congratulate you in person.”

Anna stepped away. “We should wait until Ben is home to talk.”

“I don’t want to talk. I just want to know why. Why Ben? Of all men, why one of my best friends?”

“Why not Ben?” Ann turned on him angrily and he fell into step beside her. “I had questions for you for years I never received answers for. I moved on.”

“With my friend. Is this some way to get back at me?”

Anna stopped and stared at him. “Ben was my friend too, you know. You know when you were in Virginia with the Legion, Ben was going to come after you before Caleb did.”

Abe frowned. “What?”

“He was going to leave, just take off, risk being branded a deserter. I begged him not to, but he eventually decided to formally resign his post. He was going to come after you, someone he viewed as a rival for me, and someone he knew he would lose as a friend as soon as you found out about us.” She laid a hand on his arm. “He would risk his life for that because you were his friend. He’s brave, Abe. Brave in a quiet way that most pay no mind to. He risked his life and reputation for a cause he believed in and took the hand of a woman who most would view as shamed and married her.”

Abe looked down at her hand at his elbow. “You love him. Truly.”

“He’s the best of us.”

Abe scoffed. “The schoolteacher puts on a Continental uniform and you swoon.”

Anna shoved him. “You stay away from us. You speak of everything you’ve sacrificed in this war, but Ben is on the front line, his face is known! If the tide were to ever change or if he is captured still, he’ll go to the gallows.” She adjusted the satchel on her arm and turned away. “Go home, Abe. Leave us be.”


End file.
